Canadian men’s volleyball team end Down Under tour on high note

MELBOURNE, Australia – Canada’s men’s volleyball team defeated Australia twice in two days including Saturday’s convincing straight set win 25-22, 25-17, 25-16 to conclude its two week tour down under.

The Canadians, preparing for the world championships this September in Italy, also trained in Brisbane and Canberra over the 14 days. They evened the four match series with the Australians at two wins apiece with Saturday’s victory. The Aussies won the opening two matches then Canada roared back with the two victories in Melbourne.

“We had a balanced team attack which was anchored by the serve reception of Winters, Raymond and van Lankvelt,” said Canadian assistant coach Larry McKay. “Our team block-defense on the right side attack of the Australians was also handled better today.”

Although the first set was the closest, the Canadians led from start to finish up ahead 8-5 and 16-11 at the technical time-outs. The score was close through most of the second set with Canada up 8-7 and 16-13 at the technical time outs before Canada closed out with an 11-4 run to finish the set. In the third, the Canadians outscored the Aussies 13-6 to finish off the match.

“We showed improvement each day,” said McKay. “The Australians were an impressive team and we used our training time wisely to get our game up to the level we expected of ourselves.”

The Canadian team returns home Sunday-Monday and will a have two week period to train on their own. The team reassemebles at their training base in Gatineau, Que., on July 20 for the final push towards the worlds.